Tag Archives: football

Watching the Match

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Last week was England’s last friendly match before the World Cup. Saturday saw their first match of the tournament – England vs Paraguay.

I’d watched last week’s game at Gulliver’s, and so it seemed the obvious place to watch this one.

I made it to the pub before kick-off, but too late to get a seat. Still, I had a decent enough view of the big screen. At five-to eight the TV was still showing the celebrations of the King of Thailand’s 60th anniversary on the throne. No pre-match build-up. Oh well, surely not such a bad thing.

One minute to eight, still no sign of the football. Bear in mind that the 2pm UK time kick-off means an 8pm kick-off here. I am in the company of several hundred drunk England fans. It is a criminal offence to criticise the Royal family in Thailand.

There was, how can I put it, a little unrest. No violence that I saw, but I don’t think that the Thais present appreciated the booing of the King, nor the creatively offensive chanting.

Coverage finally began at 8.30pm, so we missed the first third of the game. The only goal of the game was scored after 2 minutes, 28 minutes before we were able to start watching.

I understand the importance of the monarchy here, but I also understand the rabid mania of the English football fan. A dangerous mix…

Logistics

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Yesterday was Saturday. Just after 7pm I thought I’d give my friend Pat in the UK a call, I hadn’t spoken to him since leaving and he doesn’t use the internet. Skype is my saviour, and we had a good natter.

Pat had to cut it short though – he was getting ready to go and watch the England match. I’d completely forgotten, obviously. Still, I had half an hour or so to make it. Into (and out of) the shower, and out of the building.

I got a motorcycle taxi down Thong Lo to Sukhumvit road, which served to dry my hair far more swiftly than a towel ever would. You can ask the biker for a helmet, if you can speak enough Thai, but you’re unlikely to get one. Stupid, perhaps, but there’s still something thrilling about zipping down the main street, entirely open to the elements, and hoping you don’t fall off… Cost: ฿20 (30p).

At Sukhumvit road (one of Bangkok’s main streets, and full of bars with big TV screens ideal for the match) I’d intended to get the Skytrain, but the traffic was moving relatively freely – odd for a Saturday evening. So I figured a taxi would get me to the pub quicker, and indeed it did. Cost: ฿50 (75p).

I arrived at Gulliver’s seconds before kick-off, kicked back with a bottle of Heineken (okay, four eventually), and thoroughly enjoyed England’s 6-0 rout of Jamaica. Cost B60 (90p) per beer before 8pm, ฿80 (£1.20) afterwards.

Not a bad night’s entertainment – I wonder how much it would have cost in London…

You’re on Sky Sports

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Back in May, I went up to Liverpool to watch the European Champions League Final in an Anfield pub, and wrote about it in this entry.

Sky News were there too, and whilst I wasn’t keen on being interviewed, Dan and I did manage to get ourselves in the shot a couple of times, to the delight of our friends and the embarassment of our families.

Dan finally brought the VHS tape over for conversion to a more portable format, but not without first chewing up the tape in his own VCR, destroying said VCR to recover it, leaving it on a train to Birmingham, retrieving it again, then finally chewing up the tape in my VCR, and thankfully recovering it one last time. Then it took a week for me to find the right cables. Here are the clips.

First attempt

Drunkenness: 1/10
Time on screen: 8/10
Rabbit-in-headlights impression: 10/10

Second attempt

Drunkenness: 4/10
Time on screen: 3/10
Cheesy wave: 10/10

Our Friends In The North

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Liverpool FC celebrate winning the 2005 European Cup

I’ve been in Merseyside for the past week. I took some time off work, travelled to The Arkles pub in Anfield, Liverpool to watch THAT MATCH (managing to get on Sky News in the process), and spent the following few days catching up with friends old and new in the town where I grew up. Lots and lots to write about, and no time in which to do it. I’m back at the office in eight hours or so, so will try to catch up later in the week.